Selection Issues

Matt Ryan conceded just 74 seconds into his debut as Arsenal lost 1-0 to Aston Villa at Villa Park last Saturday.

Arsenal were once again without Kieran Tierney for the game and it was his replacement, Cédric Soares, who made the mistake which led to the early Villa goal. Gabriel played the ball to Cédric, who in turn underhit the return pass, allowing Bertand Traore to steal the ball and drive into the box. The Villa man poked the ball across to Ollie Watkins whose first-time effort deflected off of Holding into the corner of the net.

After the early goal, the game fell into a pattern of Arsenal applying pressure in the opposition half with Villa looking to play on the counter. However, on the half hour mark, it was Arsenal who launched a counter of their own, with Saka spinning Konsa just past halfway and accelerating through towards goal. The Villa defender took Saka down despite being the last man, only to receive a yellow card.

Whilst refereeing decisions are never something we want to control the narrative, that instance, alongside others in recent games, not just involving Arsenal, highlights the inconsistency of refereeing in the Premier League at the moment. Saka was likely deemed too far away from the goal for it to be a red card but the fact is he was away from Konsa and the foul only serves as evidence of the Villa man’s desperation with no one on the cover.

Sadly, that was not where the issues in this game ended. Minutes later, Konsa went through the back of Lacazette with a poor challenge. If the foul on Saka was only worthy of a yellow then this should have been his second yellow, however the referee ignored it. There was also an incident from a corner where Villa keeper Emi Martinez hauled down Alexandre Lacazzete only for a foul to be called against the Arsenal man.

Ultimately, Arsenal should have been better on the day and should not have to rely on referees to pick up 3 points. Chances for the rest of the game were split between the two sides despite Arsenal picking up momentum in the second half when they moved Saka to left back and brought on January signing Martin Ødegaard.

Arsenal’s momentum dwindled with 15 minutes to go as Partey pulled up with a hamstring injury. Willian had been warming up and was ready to go on the sideline so he was the man sent on in an effort not to waste time. This created a double negative as Arsenal lost Partey’s ability on the ball in midfield whilst also having Willian coming on and being ineffective once again.

All in all, Arsenal were not good enough on the day and were punished for a needless mistake. The referees did not help but Arsenal need to improve to the point they do not need to rely on the referees’ decisions. The Willian situation is tiring and we are to the point now where it is hard to blame the player, it is not his fault that he keeps being given chances.

An issue which arose from the Aston Villa game was who to play at left back in Tierney’s absence. Physically, Cédric is an easy target for tall and physical forwards and he does not have the same energy to patrol the left flank as Tierney. His biggest issue at the moment is his passing which has been inconsistent. Against Southampton he played a sumptuous cross field pass to help set up a goal and then the next week he under hits a simple back pass which causes Arsenal to concede.

His inconsistency is clear to see when compared to Arsenal’s other full backs and Saka, who has played many games there:

The drop off between Cédric and Arsenal’s other options is too large for him to be the automatic choice for that role in Tierney’s absence. Whilst it is unfavourable to move an established player in the team to a different position, Saka appears the obvious option, particularly for the Leeds game at the weekend.

Given that Leeds play a high intensity pressing game, the more players Arsenal have who are comfortable on the ball, and accurate with their passing, the better the chance they have of beating the press and not giving the ball away cheaply in bad areas. The absence of Thomas Partey from the midfield makes this all the more important and moving Saka to left back could help to compensate.

Moving Saka does create a selection issue further up the pitch, however. Arteta’s favoured wingers at the moment are Saka on the right and Pépé on the left, and both have been performing. Whilst Pépé has traditionally been seen as a right winger, he has been far more effective from the left and given his recent form, should stay on that side. The issue then becomes who to play at right wing. Aubameyang is better from the left, Martinelli is returning from his knee injury and Smith Rowe has played a huge number of minutes recently.

With the absence of both Tierney and Partey, and the style of play Leeds will employ, Arteta’s team selection will be a crucial one.

Arsenal host Leeds at the Emirates at 4:30pm on Sunday. With Arsenal’s dip in form, and the team selection issues, it is set to be a testing game for the Gunners, with Leeds having won 3 out of their last 5 games, including an impressive 3-1 victory over Leicester.

Prediction: Arsenal 2 – 2 Leeds

Adam Perry – 12/02/2021